Chapter 4
Afterward, Quill hobbled back to his room and applied ointment to his burn. As he sat down, the screen of his phone lit up unexpectedly. Glancing at it casually, he saw that it was a video message from Corey.
“So what if you married her? In the end, they still chose me. Even though I abandoned them, the only person they’ll ever care about is me.”
Corey’s burned hand was carefully bandaged in the video. Despite her obsessive cleanliness, Aspen was peeling a pomegranate for him and feeding it to him bit by bit.
Nora, who had complained countless times about hating piano practice, was now seated at the instrument, playing a piece to please him.
The cheerful and harmonious dynamic between the three in the video stood in stark contrast to Quill’s indifference.
His family had never been Aspen and Nora. Whoever they loved, whoever they wanted to be close to, had nothing to do with him.
He turned off the video and looked around his sparsely furnished room. He then quietly began packing his belongings, intending to discard them the next morning.
At dawn, as Aspen and Nora returned, they caught sight of him tossing his packed items into the trash.
Aspen frowned as she looked at him. “What are you throwing away?”
Quill paused briefly before lowering his gaze and replying dismissively, “Just some useless junk.”
Suspicious, Nora stepped closer to take a look. She saw the trash can filled with his clothes and personal items and curled her lips in disdain.
She sneered. “It really is just a bunch of useless junk.”
Her blatant ridicule elicited no reaction from him. He remained silent.
Then, Aspen’s phone rang. Quill only caught fragments of the conversation, but it was enough to gather that she had a meeting to attend.
As expected, she turned to him after ending the call.
“I’m heading out. Take good care of Nora.”
After she left, Quill turned to Nora, whose face was etched with dislike for him. Since Corey’s return, she hadn’t reviewed her studies in days. Although her intelligence was remarkable, earning her the label of a prodigy, even prodigies couldn’t afford to slack off indefinitely.
He was about to lead her to the study when Corey walked in, carrying a pile of junk food. He smiled warmly while kneeling gently in front of Nora.
“Nora, Daddy has time to spend with you today. Do you want to be with Daddy or with Mr. Milton?”
Nora instantly pulled her hand from Quill’s grasp and threw her arms around Corey. Her face lit up with joy. “Of course, Daddy!”
Corey’s satisfaction was tinged with smugness upon hearing her answer. He scoffed at Quill, and he led Nora to the living room while brimming with arrogance.
Quill couldn’t stop them. He could only watch helplessly as, in just an hour, they littered the floor with snack wrappers and turned the house into chaos while playing video games on the ground.
Then, Corey carried Nora upstairs to the second floor, playing a game of “high toss” in the brief moment Quill looked away.
“Mr. Hudson, this is the second floor. Tossing a child so high like that is dangerous. Please put Nora down,” Quill said.
“It’s just a game of high toss. What’s dangerous about it?” Corey dismissed the warning with a careless laugh.
Even Nora, who was cradled in his arms, pouted as she said, “Ignore him! He’s just jealous that I’m close to you, Daddy.”
Spurred on by her words, Corey threw her even higher this time as he basked in her gleeful squeals. But in that moment of overconfidence, tragedy struck.
Corey lost control, and tossed her too high. He then failed to catch her when she fell.
“Ah!”
Nora plummeted directly from the second floor. The thud of her landing echoed through the house. She didn’t even have time to cry out before she lay unconscious in a pool of blood.
Corey froze, and panic began draining the color from his face. He stood paralyzed, unable to move. Quill was equally shocked, but he quickly regained his composure and dialed for an ambulance.
The paramedics arrived swiftly and rushed Nora to the hospital. Thankfully, the emergency treatment was successful, and her life was not in danger. Aspen had arrived by the time she was transferred to a VIP ward.
Aspen’s expression darkened when she saw that Nora’s head was wrapped in bandages. Her fury was palpable. “Who did this?”
“It was Quill! He was jealous of how close Nora and I are, so he threw her from the second floor to get back at me!” Corey exclaimed.
Quill stared at Corey in disbelief. Just as he opened his mouth to defend himself, Nora regained consciousness.
Aspen rushed to her side. “Nora, how’s your head? Does it still hurt? Tell Mommy, who threw you down?”
Nora’s eyes flickered briefly at the question. Corey’s heart raced and pounded in his chest as he wondered whether she would tell Aspen the truth.
Slowly, she lifted her hand and pointed directly at Quill. “It was him! He threw me down!”
